


Perquisitus

by tiznanor



Category: Star Trek: Alternate Original Series (Movies)
Genre: Jim's past, Kirk's unrequited love for Spock, Post-Star Trek Beyond, Yorktown, fluff and angst and adventure, gays in space, mentions of character deaths
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-08-03
Updated: 2016-08-04
Packaged: 2018-07-29 00:37:57
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,366
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7663357
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tiznanor/pseuds/tiznanor
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The time spent at Yorktown after Altamid is supposed to be easy- it's not. Jim encounters someone from his past, Spock goes missing, Bones tries to hold everyone together... And then a chilling plot against the Federation is uncovered at Yorktown.</p><p>(Planning to update ~2,000-word chapters every few days until finished)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everybody! Thanks for reading! I just wanted to say that this is the first fic I've written in a long time, but I hope you enjoy it! Please comment/message your feedback and I'll try to take it into consideration in future chapters!

Jim woke up hungover.  He couldn’t say he was disappointed either- it had been far too long since he’d been able to just relax and have a good time with his crew, and actually enjoy it. He’d given Bones crap for ambushing him like that at the surprise party, of course, but it really had meant a lot to him. He’d needed it. And after a long night of drinking, flirting, and staring wistfully up at the shell of what he hoped was his new ship, he’d actually made it home to pass out. And there wasn’t even a random humanoid in his bed this time when he woke up.

                _Maybe I am getting old_ , he reflected, but he knew the real reason he hadn’t slept with anyone in at least a year. And it wasn’t for lack of trying. But as usual, he didn’t let himself think of that, of _him_ … No. He wouldn’t do that. The world was just still a little fuzzy…

                He sat up with a groan and looked at the chrono on his nightstand. 1007. Not too bad. “Lights, 20%. Bones!” he called to the lump of blankets that he knew would be on the sofa, “Time to get up! We have that hearing this evening, and you told Sulu and Ben that you’d watch Demora until then.” The only response he got was a groan and a boot flying through the air to hit the wall near his head, “Good aim! Almost like the old days, huh?” Jim grinned.

                The old days. He didn’t exactly miss being at the academy, even his first couple years as captain of the _Enterprise_. It felt like a lifetime ago, though. Maybe it was a lifetime ago- Jim never had felt entirely the same since he’d died… So much had happened since then, so much to make him grow up, see things a new way. It was almost weird to be waking up in an apartment with Bones after a night of partying.

                Jim shook his head and tried to think of something else. He _was_ a little worried about the hearing. Commodore Paris had insisted it was just a formality, a glorified debriefing really. It was clear to everyone that Jim and the crew of the Enterprise had saved Yorktown from Krall and his swarm of drones, but anytime a starship- especially one as significant as the _Enterprise_ \- was lost, there was protocol to be followed. Even knowing that, Jim still hated bureaucracy. Funny to think he had been considering a desk job here until just a few days ago.

                Hearing Bones start to bump around in the kitchen, Jim reached over for his comm to check his messages. Knowing that he usually woke up several hours before now, there were bound to be several. He found a few more birthday wishes (Bones didn’t know how to keep _anything_ a secret, it was official); notifications, probably of meetings being scheduled (he’d open those later); a chain of drunk comms from Chekov… Jim sighed, seeing the name at the bottom of the list. His mother had already tried to call twice this morning.

                It wasn’t that he had a strictly bad relationship with Winona Kirk- he’d made efforts since enlisting in Starfleet to repair what had once been a bad relationship, at least- but they still weren’t the closest a mother and son could be. It was, as most things tended to be in Jim’s life, complicated. And she was still his mom. And he hadn’t talked to her since getting stranded on Altamid, almost dying in Yorktown’s air system, and getting his face plastered all over the newsfeeds yet again for risking his life for the Federation.

                He could see why she wanted to talk.

                Standing up and making his way to the kitchen for a much-needed cup of black coffee- he could already smell Bones working on breakfast, too- Jim made a mental note to call her later. For now, there was a lot of mind-numbingly boring paperwork to be done.

 

                McCoy finished cleaning up breakfast before letting himself out of Jim’s temporary apartment- temporary until they left Yorktown, which would be at least another several months. Jim had gone to his also-temporary office to work on the mountain of paperwork that came with losing a starship- and, God rest them, some of its crew. McCoy had his own duties to attend to when they were here, but he’d taken the day off, not knowing if he’d need it the day after Jim’s party. His judgment had turned out to be sound.

                It was already about noon, and McCoy walked slowly across the courtyard to the building where the Sulus would be living. All of the crew had been assigned temporary quarters in the same area of the starbase as Ben and Demora had already been living, which he found convenient. It still gave him the heebie-jeebies to think about the fact that he was on a fancy giant satellite with nothing but a couple blue-colored panels keeping him from flying out into space. The scary part was how much like Earth it looked and felt, other than the disorienting rings of buildings always visible overhead. He looked back down and walked faster.

                When he approached the door of the apartment, he could hear shrieking from inside. If McCoy didn’t know who the screams belonged to so well, he would have been worried. Instead he smiled to himself and knocked on the door. It was opened a few moments later by Ben, who let McCoy in with a smile as they watched Sulu chasing a delighted Demora around the living room in full fencing garb. They both stopped when they realized someone had come in, and the little girl turned to run into McCoy’s arms, same smile still plastered onto her face. “Uncle Lenny!”

                “Hiya, princess!” He caught her as she ran and threw her into the air, “Wow, you’re almost too big for me to keep doing that!”

Demora giggled as McCoy set her down, “Did Uncle Jimmy have a good birfday last night? I tried to ask Papa and Daddy but I was sleeping when they comed home.”

                “I’m sure he had a great birthday, sweetheart. And I’m sure you’ll see him soon to ask him yourself. What do you say we make a present for him when your dads are gone this afternoon?” The girl’s eyes lit up even more as the dads in question made their way to the door.

                “Thanks for watching her for us, Doc,” Ben smiled, arm around Sulu, “She says you’re her favorite uncle, you know- don’t tell Pavel. We’ll be back in a few hours, we’ve just been apart for so long…”

                “Yeah, yeah. I get it. Just go have fun, you two,” McCoy waved them out the door and turned his attention back to Demora, who was already pulling out craft supplies and talking excitedly about what they’d make for Jim’s birthday.

                He smiled back at her, thinking as he always did when he babysat about the faraway memories, about Joanna when she had been that young and McCoy had still been a married Georgia doctor.

                “I’m sure Uncle Jimmy’s gonna love it, sweetheart.”

 

                Spock filed into the conference room with the rest of the _Enterprise_ ’s command crew, noting with interest that all eyes seemed to be on the Captain. It would be expected that the council looked to the ship’s most senior officer during a session like this, especially an officer so renowned. What made it interesting was that the rest of the crew was watching him too, all slightly anxious. This wasn’t the first hearing they’d all been required to attend over the years, and it was almost routine now for the captain to have some type of outburst, be it out of annoyance, anger, or other emotions undetectable to Spock. Something told Spock that the Kirk would be able to handle himself today, but that didn’t stop Scotty and McCoy from casting each other worried glances, and Uhura from pinching her sleeve the way she always did when she was uncomfortable. The hearing was only a formality, but would still go much faster with the cooperation of everyone present.

                “Captain Kirk,” Admiral Lui began when everyone had settled into the room, officers standing at attention before the panel. Spock fought the urge to raise an eyebrow. He was unaware the admiral was on station. She must have arrived especially for the hearing, and he was yet uncertain whether that was good or bad news. He was, however, relieved to see that he recognized the majority of the other flag officers present. Even the woman he didn’t know seemed familiar to him somehow.

 “Commander Spock, Lieutenant Commanders McCoy and Scott, and Lieutenants Sulu and Uhura,” the admiral continued, “You have all been called here today to bring light to the events resulting in the destruction of the _U.S.S. Enterprise_ on Stardate 2263.03. All comments made will be on official record, and I remind you all that you are under oath as officers of Starfleet to tell the whole truth under penalty of court-martial.”

                The six of them nodded their agreement, all familiar with the protocol.

                The proceedings went smoothly and as predicted, the six of them all giving their own versions of what happened when the ship crashed, why it crashed, whether anyone in particular was to blame, whether it could have been stopped. They all answered admirably and Spock was pleased to determine that nobody seemed to be in any way at fault.

                Then why, he wondered, was the Captain so uncomfortable? Kirk kept shifting, staring between the ground and the admirals, gaze darting back to Spock himself every now and then. Thoroughly puzzled, and admittedly bored with the proceedings, Spock began analyzing the Captain more closely.

                After three minutes he determined that there was no logical pattern in the way Kirk moved his eyes- the timing wasn’t consistent enough. Yet… He decided to pay closer attention to where Kirk’s eyes looked around the room. Only two minutes later was Spock able to conclude that Kirk was purposely avoiding one of the women on the panel. A vice-admiral by the stripes on her dress uniform. It was the woman that Spock had recognized but not known.

                This truly was puzzling. Why did the Captain want to avoid her so much? He could only assume it may have been due to a past sexual rendezvous, but this woman seemed a bit old for that. Not that he would put it past the Captain to…

                But why was she so familiar? Spock began to feel uneasy. Surely the Captain wasn’t in any danger?

                “Commander Spock,” Commodore Paris’s voice. It sounded like it wasn’t the first time she said it either.

                “My apologies, Commodore,” Now he was feeling annoyance, at himself, for allowing himself to become so distracted, especially in such an important setting.

                It made sense for him to be tired- the past few days had seen him responsible for paperwork, management of several disputes between crewmembers, arrangements of funerals and letters of condolence to family members (a duty that normally fell to the Captain, but Spock had insisted on helping as much as he could, knowing how much it worsened Kirk’s grief to do such things). None of it was any excuse for him to lose focus in a formal hearing.

                “It’s quite alright, Commander. Just answer Vice Admiral Kirk’s question.”

                “Of course, Commodore. Vice Admiral,” Spock bowed his head apologetically to… Kirk, recalling the question he now realized she’d asked and answering it almost automatically, pondering this new development all the while.

 

                Uhura had noticed the tightness in Jim’s demeanor since they’d walked into the room, but she was just as startled as the others to learn the cause of his discomfort. Professional as her colleagues were, she only noticed minor shuffling at the revelation that Kirk’s mother was here.

Questions flooded Uhura’s mind: Why was she here? Why was she allowed in her own son’s hearing? What was the relationship between Kirk and her that caused this tension? And less important observations: Winona Kirk looked older in real life than when Uhura had seen her face in Academy texts. Of course, it had been several years since the Academy… And why hadn’t she changed her name when she remarried?

Uhura mentally sorted all these questions in order of importance, deciding she’d ask the Captain about Winona Kirk when the opportunity presented itself. She didn’t expect that opportunity to be anytime soon- Uhura knew Jim Kirk well enough to know that however he reacted to seeing his mother after the hearing finished, it would probably involve a fight, a drink, or avoiding anyone who wanted to talk. Or any combination of the three. Still, she had to hand it to the Captain, he’d definitely grown up from when she first met him at that bar in Iowa. Kirk had grown into his role of Captain since Nero, even since Khan, but the past few days had seen yet another side of Kirk, and she wasn’t sure what that side entailed. Still, at least he was engaging again- when they’d been away, she’d noticed what could only have been his spirit fading over time as he grew more and more tired of the burden of his captaincy and his mission.

Uhura mentally shook herself, trying to bring her focus back to the hearing. Whatever was going on with Kirk, she’d be close at hand if he needed her.

The hearing drew to a close; it had been rather uneventful aside from the surprise panel member. Every crewmember had already filed their own report on what had happened on Altamid; the senior officers had just needed to come make their reports officially before the council. The tension in the room was still there, but it mainly emanated from Kirk. Overall, Uhura could tell that they would all keep their posts and the five-year mission would continue as soon as they had a ship ready to carry them.

Admiral Lui said as much before dismissing them, only mentioning that the council still did need to formally decide it.

As soon as the flag officers across the table began to rise and the _Enterprise_ ‘s officers had been dismissed, Kirk turned and fled the room without saying anything. Uhura saw him linger though in the corridor just outside the door, waiting. Of all the things she’d expected her Captain to do, that hadn’t been on the list. She moved to meet him out there, but Lui’s voice called her back.

“Spock, McCoy, Uhura, Scott, and Sulu,” It did not escape Uhura’s notice that she’d called on everyone except Kirk, “Please remain a moment. I must speak with you”

The five of them stood back at attention and waited for the admiral to speak again, which she only did once everyone else had cleared the room.

“I know your ship is gone, but I have a new mission for you. You may have just saved Yorktown, but now I need you to save the Federation. Again.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you all for your patience as I find my rhythm here... The writing and chapters will definitely be getting more consistent as I go on and make more decisions. Your support already has been amazing!

Jim waited out in the corridor for his mother. He’d been more than shocked to see her at the hearing- he knew she lived at Yorktown, had even been planning to visit her, but the last he knew his mother was still a  commander, not a vice-admiral. She’d refused any promotions since Jim’s father died, and Starfleet had learned to respect the wish. So what the hell was she doing with the job that had been offered to Jim just a couple of days ago?

He straightened when he saw Winona Kirk step into the corridor and walk toward him, beaming, his name already on her lips, “Jimmy!” Forcing a smile, Jim returned the embrace she pulled him into.

“Hi, mom. I’m uh, real surprised you’re here… Can we go somewhere?” He could feel several pairs of eyes watching them closely, and he decided he’d rather they be alone when he lost control of the emotions he was holding back. Spock would be proud.

“Yeah, sure. I have time. I tried to call, you know… I’m just so happy to see you… You look more and more like your father every time…” She reached up to stroke his cheek, lost in the past with just one look. Jim got the chance to get a good look at her too- she looked older. His mother had definitely aged quickly when he was younger, the grief and trauma of the Kelvin Incident taking its toll. While her hair had been graying for decades, there was almost no blonde left anymore. Her face had started to wrinkle too. It only added to the look of gentle sophistication she had always possessed. She still looked attractive, but she definitely looked her age. And Jim could tell she was tired.

“Do you know any bars close by?” Jim broke the silence, hinting more than asking. He was going to need a drink for this conversation, and if they way things were already going gave any indication, so would she.

They ended up taking a shuttle to the bar Winona suggested. Jim didn’t say anything the whole way there, and she didn’t push him. He had to imagine she understood how weird it was for him- Jim hadn’t personally seen his mother in over three years, and she had never been involved in his work. When had she even applied for the vice-admiral position? Did she know Jim had wanted it? Had she gotten it as a favor? Did she crash Jim’s hearing on purpose? If this had happened even five years ago, her presence might even have embarrassed Jim. But now he was just confused and annoyed. And angry.

When the shuttle stopped Jim rushed out the door without waiting for Winona, knowing she would follow. He found the bar just down the street and walked inside, heading straight to the counter to order a drink. He took a series of deep breaths while he waited for his mother to catch up. He knew she was just trying to be a mom and that he should cut her some slack- he was _trying_ \- but it was still just so easy to slip back into the role he’d held with her for so many years- the angry son.

She walked up next to him, ordering the same Romulan Ale she always seemed to drink. After a few more breaths, he was able to look her in the eye again.

 

Spock had remained in the conference room with the others and found that he was not as surprised as he should be to hear the admiral’s remarks. He supposed he had expected there to be a reason for Lui’s presence, and a formality such as the hearing she had just presided over wouldn’t be important enough to call her out here. Nor was he surprised that the crew of the _Enterprise_ would have been selected for such a mission- there was a certain logic to it. Still, what was the expression? _Never a dull day._

“Respectfully, Admiral,” Sulu offered after a moment of awkward silence, “But shouldn’t the Captain be briefed of this as well?” Spock nodded slightly to indicate that this was a very appropriate question.

“Whether you tell him about this is up to you,” Lui replied. She seemed to have expected the query, “But this mission is for the five of you alone. Captain Kirk has other matters to attend to besides.”

_Curious._ The only logical explanations for the Captain to be excluded from a mission would be that it either was too personally related to him (possible, considering his mother’s recent appearance here), Starfleet didn’t trust him with such a mission (highly unlikely given his recent heroics), or that Kirk _was_ the mission (meaning he was in some kind of danger).

Lui met Spock’s eye, as if she could read his thoughts. It was an impossibility, as humans possessed no capacity for telepathy. He must have let his guard down and shown his emotions more than he had intended, something that had been happening more and more lately; he put the mask securely back in place as the admiral spoke, “This mission involves a certain level of… secrecy. The party it involves will undoubtedly be watching Captain Kirk, so we have decided that it would be best if he continued to perform his duties as required, to keep said party in the dark for as long as possible.”

It was a logical strategy.

Scotty cleared his throat from the other side of Uhura, “Ye said the Federation was in danger?”

“Isn’t it always?” Admiral Lui smiled sadly, an expression that very much reminded Spock of a look he’d seen countless times on the Captain’s face in the past several years. He identified it as the look of a person weighed down by the knowledge that they stood against all odds, but were still determined to succeed, “Have a seat, please, all of you.”

 

Sulu listened to the admiral speak, trying to keep from worrying. He was a Starfleet officer- he was supposed to handle anything that was thrown at him, and stay calm doing it. And he had, time and again, against all odds, always managing to keep his cool and fly the _Enterprise_ where it needed to go. But now with no ship to fly and the threat to Yorktown and his family so recent in his mind, he was exhausted and tired of worrying.

He hoped whatever threat they faced, it would be taken care of quickly.

“We don’t have all the information yet,” Lui sounded apologetic, “With the incident with Krall- Captain Edison- so recent, it’s a miracle we know what we do. All we know is that Edison had managed to gain more of a foothold in the Federation than we thought. We don’t know how or who or how much… Finding that out will be part of your job.”

Lui reached over to the console on the table to press a button, and a holograph appeared in the middle of the table. Sulu didn’t fully understand what he was seeing, but Scotty and Uhura leaned forward earnestly, soaking up whatever information they could get out of it. The admiral waited for them to finish.

Uhura gasped, seeming to suddenly understand something. Scotty furrowed his brow, “That canna be right-“

“Would you like to share this discovery with the rest of the class?” Doctor McCoy interrupted from Sulu’s left, arms crossed.  Sulu couldn’t help but to grin- he knew how much McCoy hated to admit he needed something explained to him when Spock was around. But that’s why the crew worked as a team, so they could each have their specializations. Still, without a ship…

“It’s simple, Doctor,” Spock responded coolly, ignoring McCoy’s eyeroll, “This data suggests that Krall had associates operating from inside Yorktown when he attacked.”

That was significant.

“What do you mean?” Sulu asked, now very worried but keeping it from his voice, “How do you know it was more than one? This wouldn’t imply that he had some sort of organization?”

“See here?” Scotty gestured to some of the less comprehensible data, “This says that there was someone actively keepin’ us from turnin’ off th’ air supply when the Captain was in there. An’ this…”

“There’s a lot of them,” Uhura’s voice was full of confidence that made Sulu’s stomach sink even more. His daughter was in danger if Krall had friends at Yorktown. “Datascans show that there were at least half a dozen unauthorized accesses to control panels around the station during the attack. They were trying to disable defensive weapons. All at the same time. And we can’t trace anything. They’re organized and they know what they’re doing.”

The room was silent again as everyone let this sink in. Finally, the admiral spoke again, voice somber.

“You’re all correct. And we have no way of knowing how far Edison’s reach goes beyond Yorktown. This is a time-sensitive mission. We anticipate some form of attack in retribution for the failure of the last one. The failure you all- and Captain Kirk- caused. In their eyes. But you can’t just stop this group. You need to find them, and then you need to find out how big this whole thing really is. Or there may be many more attacks in the near future. And then stop all of them.”

Sulu looked around the table, meeting everyone’s eye before nodding his response, “Then let’s get to it.”

 

Ensign Chekov was waiting just outside the conference room, and met the rest of the bridge crew when they finally exited. He knew his rank was the only thing that prevented him from accompanying the others in meetings like this, but they had all agreed it felt strange. Uhura had come up with the idea a few years back that Chekov would wait outside of every hearing or briefing, giving him the opportunity to “accidentally overhear” what he could and also to be the first to be informed of what had occurred when it was over.

This time he listened earnestly as Scotty filled him in on what they’d learned of their new assignment, Chekov’s face falling more as he continued to speak.

“Vhen vill the Federation ewer be safe?” he shook his head but then raised it, determined to stay positive in the face of the situation, “Okay! Vhere should ve start?”

Commander Spock cleared his throat from across the small side-room they’d relocated to, “The logical first step is for us to decide what the Captain should know and what his involvement will be in this assignment. Seeing as he is likely distracted by his own duties and his… familial situation, I would predict that his ability to assist us would be somewhat limited. Additionally considering what the Admiral has told us about the need to keep the enemy in the dark, I propose that any information provided to the Captain be on an as-needed basis.”

The rest of them glanced uneasily around the room until Doctor McCoy’s inevitable response, “Please tell me that I’m not the only one who feels uncomfortable with that!”

“It is only natural, Doctor, that we should feel inclined to be entirely forthcoming with our commanding officer,” Spock raised an eyebrow. If Chekov didn’t know better, he’d say that the Commander was implying something about the pair’s friendship with the Captain as well as discussing duty. How the Vulcan could manage to handle such nuances always earned Chekov’s admiration. "But may I remind you that it is quite common for us all to receive missions that the rest of the crew cannot know the true purposes of,” he continued, “Furthermore, it should be agreed upon that if the Captain directly asks us about our involvement with this assignment, we should answer him with the truth. There is no reason to lie.”

The Doctor grumbled about that unfortunately making some type of logical sense, and Uhura nodded her agreement, “Okay. I can go see what I can find out about those access points Admiral Lui shared with us, see if I can trace anything back to anyone that might be able to give us more information. Until then, it looks like a waiting game.”

“We’ll all keep our eyes peeled for anything unusual around the starbase,” Sulu pointed out, “So it’s not like we’re entirely sitting on the sidelines. But it’s important that we find out all we can before another attack happens. And we have to keep acting normal so nobody’s onto us…”

They all agreed to provide each other with updates before heading their separate ways, Chekov going off with Scotty, who had been given the apartment next to his. It was late, and they all still needed rest.

As they walked, an idea began to eat away at Chekov, the uneasy feeling he’d had when he first heard the news returning to his stomach.

“Meester Scott… These… plotters, they could wery easily be members of Starfleet, no?”

Scott paused in his walk, looking at Chekov as it were an obvious conclusion but the idea had never occurred to him explicitly, “Aye... ‘twould make a certain level of sense, what with the high percentage of Yorktown residents being members of Starfleet, an’ the technological know-how required to break into the controls...”

“Then Meester Scott… That’s a lot of power held in the wrong hands.  And after Admiral Marcus and Section 31… How much of Starfleet are ve fighting against?”

Were they in the majority, or was there even the slightest chance that Starfleet truly was no longer the organization they had all believed it to be?

 

Jaylah knocked on the door to Scotty’s apartment. While obligations called for the two of them to be separated during the day, they’d made it a priority to at least see each other in the evenings, at least until Jaylah got more comfortable being at Yorktown. She always looked forward to their time spent together- she owed Montgomery Scotty for getting her off Altamid, and she was quite fond of him besides. He reminded her of the father she’d lost years ago. There were of course differences between the two men, but she had never thought she would find anyone who would care for her in such a way again. Until Montgomery Scotty fell from the sky.

“Aye, come in!” A voice called from inside. Jaylah opened the door to see Montgomery Scotty and Pavel Andreievich sitting inside drinking what she’d been informed was scotch. Chekov had told her all about it at James Tee’s birthday party the night before.

“Hello!” she said with a smile, sitting down in the chair that shared the living room.

“Jaylah! You’re just in time!” Pavel Andreievich was looking at Jaylah again with the strange look that seemed to make Scotty uneasy. She figured that was just how he was- she’d seen him look at many women that way, “Ve vere just getting into it! Vould you like some scotch?”

“No. Thank you,” she remembered to add. Jaylah didn’t see much of a point in drinking alcohol if it didn’t do what it was meant to, “How was your day? Did James Tee enjoy his celebration?”

“I’d imagine so, lass,” Montgomery Scotty sipped his drink. What was the point of drinking it slowly? Jaylah wondered, Didn’t he like the taste? “Though I didna get much of a chance to talk to him today. We saw him at the hearing though, and he didna look too much worse for wear.”

“How was the…hearing?” Another new use of an English word- she enjoyed learning them. At her question, the two men exchanged each other a look. Scotty gave Chekov a slight nod.

“The hearing vas good,” Chekov shrugged, “Everything normal. But then… ve got a new mission…”

“Ye’d best hold off on packin’ yer bags for the Academy, lass,” Scotty said, though Jaylah suspected he knew she had no bags, “Because it looks like we’ll be needin’ yer help around here yet.”

Over another glass of scotch each, Pavel Andreievich and Montgomery Scotty explained to Jaylah what they’d learned from Admiral Lui. When they’d finished Jaylah stood up, walked to the kitchen grabbed a glass, and sat back down, holding it out for Scotty to pour the scotch into it. Her mind was swimming.

“So there are more bad men. Bad people. And they could be everywhere. And they will continue to kill like Krall and his bees did. Until we stop them.”

“Pretty much, yeah,” Scotty looked at her with concern, “Listen lassie, I know what this must mean to ye. I know ye’d hoped all this was done with, but it’s not. And we could use yer help in trying to save the Federation. I thought ye’d like to end it for yerself, but if it’s too much I understand.”

“No, Montgomery Scotty. I will do it. For my family and for your Federation.” Jaylah tilted back her glass and drained it.


End file.
